The band was created by Eric Laboy in 1978 to 1985, with the name Encuentro. Due to a political campaign slogan, the name was changed to Los Chicos, which translates to The Kids. They enjoyed huge success during the early 1980s, particularly in Puerto Rico and Central America. A movie (Conexión Caribe) was filmed and a tv show hosted weekly on Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV. Many songs, including Puerto Rico son Los Chicos, Ave María and Mamma Mia became radio favorites, and memorabilia items like posters were mass produced. Los Chicos became national sponsors for Malta Corona and Mahones Savage (Savage Jeans).

In October 1983, three of the original members, Ray, Migue and Chayanne, quit the group, alleging poor working conditions. Chayanne became a solo artist and released his first album in 1984. Carlos Alfonso took over the new group with Tony and three new group members (Tico Santana, Jorge Lopez, and Alejandro Farinacci). However, this version did not had the acceptance of the public, and finally the band was dissolved. While it never achieved Menudo's level of popularity, it gave them a run for their money in Puerto Rico and many Latin American countries, specially Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panamá.

After break-up

Los Chicos' most popular members were Chayanne (now an international super-star), Migue Santa (now an helicopter pilot), Tony Ocasio and Rey Díaz. Currently Rey is working as a Sales Executive in a prominent firm at Puerto Rico. Future Menudo member Sergio Blass was a member of Los Chicos for a short period of time, he was the only singer to be a member of both Los Chicos and Menudo.

In the aftermath of the success achieved by six former Menudos in a comeback nicknamed El Reencuentro, some former members of Los Chicos spoke about making a comeback too. This however, never materialized.